Lady and the Hound
by BabraGleekPotter
Summary: After Joffrey's death, Sansa is forced to marry Tommen. Her life is nothing like she expected, Bran and Rickon were killed by Theon Greyjoy, Arya's disappeared, and the only one who was nice to her left during the Battle of the Blackwater. Five years later, much to her surprise, the Hound finds his way back to the Red Keep, and into the arms of the new Queen.


After dinner, Sansa usually left the table quickly and headed to the Godswood, to dedicate the rest of the day to prayers. But that night she decided that she was too tired and upset for praying, so she just walked back to her bed room.  
It was a great thing that Joffrey was dead, otherwise she would have had to sleep with him; thankfully Tommen was a much younger and kinder husband, though not Sansa's first choice.  
Her life had turned out to be a real disappointment, completely different from she had expected, and the highlight of her life in King's Landing had been Joffrey's death. She had been forced to marry Tommen, as an excuse, she was sure about it, not to let her go back home. Nevertheless, rumour had it that Winterfell had been first captured by the Ironmen then burnt down by the Dreadfort men, so there was absolutely no place that Sansa could call home now.  
She was seventeen, her king was twelve, and they had been married for almost two weeks, but she just knew that Tommen wouldn't have gone to visit her in her room because he knew she wouldn't have liked it. He had always been nice to her and he never put her through pressure, unless his mother made him, but Sansa couldn't blame him for that; she knew very well what a bitch Cersei could be.  
Aware of her brothers' death and her sister's missing, she had been strong and brave, but hopelessly unhappy.

"If only the war came to and end.." she thought, shutting the door behind her back.

Her room was dark as usual, but a tiny candle was shining on her bedside table.

"Shae must have lightened it" she told herself, starting to undo her hair, "she knew I would have come here soon.."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone yawned. Sansa quickly turned around, scared, and tried hard to see something, but it was too dark.

"Who is it?" she asked, her voice shaking. "I warn you, this is the Queen's bedroom, you shouldn't be here.."

"Relax, little bird" replied a man, making his way into the light, "I won't hurt you"

Sansa's heart skipped several beats, as her eyes focused on the gatecrasher, but her ears had already recognised his croaky voice.  
Besides, no one else called her 'little bird'.

"Lord Clegane" she whispered.

"Oh, not again" he huffed, running a hand through his long hair, "how many times do I have to tell you that I am no lord?"

"Just one more, my lord" said Sansa, feeling a little braver than usual, but still incapable of watching the scars of his face. He noticed that.

"Is it so difficult for you to say my name?" he asked, taking a step forward, now completely visible thanks to the candle's light. "More than it is for you to look at my face?"

"I have to admit, it used to scare me"

"And what has changed?"

The Hound was curious, and Sansa thought that it was impolite not to answer. A lady should never keep anyone waiting.

"Not your face, that's for sure" she said. Not a ladylike reply, she had to admit.

A smile of slight surprise crossed the Hound's disfigured face, and he said:

"The little bird got nasty!"

"The little bird got angry" corrected Sansa, now feeling completely fearless.

"With me?" asked the Hound, even more astounded.

Sansa stamped her foot on the ground.

"Yes!"

"May I ask why?"

"How can you need to ask?" she cried, feeling her rage skip under her control. "You left! I thought you were the strongest and bravest knight of the whole kingdom, when you turned out to be the least valiant man in King's Landing!"

"I had told you I would have left, little bird, it was no surprise for you..."

"Little bird is the queen now, so watch your tongue!" she replied sourly. The Hound shut his mouth and let her talk.

"And I didn't say I was surprised anyway, I was just sincerely disappointed! Joffrey, that stinking worm, was the worst king of all times, even more than Aerys the Mad King, and his people hated him and feared him, but you were the only one who could make him see reason, or at least scare him enough to be able to control his thoughtless actions! The people needed you and you let them down!"

"They hated me as well, my queen" the Hound interrupted; he couldn't take it anymore. "They hated everyone, the Lannister family and their servants"

"Well, Lord Tywin hates you too now, and so does Lord Jaime, and their rage is nothing compared to Cersei's. And, for how much I hated Joffrey, I can't say I disagree with her" Sansa put on a frown, obviously conflicted for agreeing with Cersei on something. "You were his Hound, and you left when your king needed you the most, you deserted your master!"

"All of these people you're saying, my queen" he repeated the word 'queen' to make sure she listened to him and not only hear him, "they didn't really need me, and you know it. King Joffrey had plenty of other valiant knights..."

"Not as good as you" stated Sansa, raising an eyebrow.

"But he had loads" replied the Hound. The Queen was visibly affronted.

"Well... the people didn't. They were left alone, with no one to fight for them, no one who could make their king realise how bad their conditions were..."

"I never had that power, little... my queen" huffed Sandor; it was harder than he thought. "I might have stopped Joffrey from hitting you once or twice, but I was never able to tell him how to rule a realm. That was his mother's job, or at least his uncle's"

Sansa was shaking with rage. How dare he leave the castle, be back and not even feeling a little bit guilty for it? He was talking to his queen, for the Seven Gods'sake, he simply must pledge his allegiance to her...

"I needed you!" she yelled. "I needed you to save me from that disgusting vicious creature who would have his knights hit me because he was too much of a coward to do it himself! I needed you to look at me with that burnt eye of yours and tell me that you love killing, and call me little bird and threaten to cut my throat if hadn't sung for you! I needed to know that your blunt, rude manners and your terribly looking face was as scary as it gets, the worst it could happen, and that nothing could ever possibly give me as much pain as having you around!"

Sansa had run out of breath, but the Hound was absolutely shocked. He was standing only a few steps away from her, and he could see her chest jump up and down as she was speaking.

"Instead, I learned that the thing that hurts most is not having you around" she continued, with a slight sadness in her voice. "I found myself missing your burnt face, wanting to see you and... needing you to protect me from the real monsters inside the castle"

"Someone causing you trouble, little bird?" asked the Hound, trying to show the merest trace of emotions he could. "The fat kid treating you like one of his dolls?"

"King Tommen is the kindest person I've met ever since I left Winterfell" said Sansa, starting to breath again, "though probably the only one"

"What's the problem then?"

The Hound was really confused, she could see it.

"Everything" she sobbed, sitting down on the bed, her auburn hair flopping on her shoulders. "It's all wrong, I shouldn't even be here! I should be in Winterfell with my brothers, insulting Arya for something stupid that she has done..."

She could finish the sentence; she had already accepted the fact that she was never going to see her brothers again, but talking about Arya out loud made her realise how much she was missing her.  
The Hound kept quiet, slowly sitting down next to her, close, but not too much.  
Sansa wanted to push him away, but she wanted to hug him also; sitting still was a good compromise. She closed her eyes for awhile, until she felt ready to speak again.

"I have always wanted to be a princess and to marry some good looking, charming, respectable young man"

"One out of four" joked the Hound, trying to make her feel better, "two maybe, it depends on one's personal tastes"

"This is everything I ever dreamed of" she ignored him; she didn't need any another pathetic jester. "Like in one of those love songs, I am a young queen, I have servants and knights ready to protect me, a husband who treats me properly, lots of beautiful dresses and a whole realm to govern... and this is the most scared I have ever been"

"What scares you so much, little bird?" asked the Hound, so lost into her blue eyes that he forgot to call her 'my queen'.

Sansa bit her lips, so tense that she forgot to shiver as she looked right at his face.

"If I say this, promise you won't laugh at me"

"You could always have my head cut if I did" replied the Hound.

"I will have it anyway, if anyone finds out you're here" stated Sansa.

"Right. So, what is it?"

"That nobody loves me" she answered, after a moment of hesitation. "I have to be what a queen is and do what a queen does with the only expectation of giving a heir to the king, when Tommen is the right age, and that is the only reason why someone will ever be thankful to me. Nobody loves a queen. Some kings are hated and feared, but still have some trustworthy soldier who would follow him to battle, while a queen has no one"

"And how could I help with that?" asked the Hound, his gruffy voice lowered to a whisper.

Sansa's heart raced, and she felt as daring as she never thought she could be. Without even noticing, she sat a little closer to him.

"You could love me" she whispered back.

"And what should I be given in return?"

"I would love you back"

"You would do that, my queen?" he asked, astonished. He too had approached her a little.

"Queen?" repeated Sansa, jokingly. "What happened to little bird?"

"It flew away" answered the Hound, smiling, or at least doing something that looked the most like a smile. But it lasted less than two seconds, because he suddenly felt empty and sad.

"I'm truly sorry to hear how bad things are for you, Sansa"

"I suppose they could go worse" she said, shrugging gently. "But you will have to fix it, you know, right?"

"Yeah?" he said, smiling again. "Anything for my queen"

Now she was smiling too.

"To start, why don't you tell me what the reason of your journey is?"

He had expected it. She was the only one he had warned before leaving, and she deserved an answer. Furthermore, she was his queen now, and he couldn't deny anything to her.

"I needed to go" he started to explain, "I just couldn't accept the fact that we were losing a battle, especially that one. With all of that Wildfire, everyone would have remembered that I led my people to defeat because I am terrified by everything that burns and... well, it was a matter of honour, my lady"

"You spoke as a true knight, my lord, but I was talking about your journey home" replied Sansa with a sweet smile, before leaning forward to the Hound's ear.

"Why have you come back?" she asked in a whisper, like if it was a secret.

She knew; yet she needed to hear it from him. She was sure, but at that moment nothing seemed to be certain.  
He wasn't a man of many words, he was a man of actions. He didn't like to talk much, he prefered listening.  
So he turned his face and pressed his forehead against hers and put his hands around her neck in a very delicate way.

"You still owe me a song, little bird" he murmured. "Florian and Jonquil, you said"

Sansa didn't feel much like talking either, and singing was the least of her thoughts; she simply kissed him.


End file.
